


Stars

by hinkypunked



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Friendship/Love, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-28
Updated: 2014-05-28
Packaged: 2018-01-26 22:04:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1704164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hinkypunked/pseuds/hinkypunked
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'Cas’s face is barely inches away from his own and the awe in his eyes is enough to make Dean feel giddy. ‘Hey,’ he says weakly, ‘Don’t you have some stars to be looking at?’<br/>‘I don’t know Dean.’ replies Cas softly, and he brushes a finger across the freckles on the bridge of Dean’s nose and up his left cheek. ‘There are plenty of them to look at right here.’'</p><p>Idk what to tell you, pure, clichéd fluff tbh. Practically zero plot. Reviews would be fab. :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Suggested listening:  
> Shallows - Daughter

Dean is twelve and nervous and lying in wait on his best friend's bedroom floor. Cas had told him once that he had always wanted to stargaze, but living in the city the best they ever got was a few paling stars valiantly trying to shine through the streetlights, and so Dean did what any Good Best Friend would do: skipped school, spent this week's pocket money on some plastic glow in the dark stars, snuck into Cas's bedroom through the window, and plastered the ceiling with stars the best he could. He'd almost had a few falls whilst leaning precariously from the little wooden stool, but mostly all had gone smoothly. When Cas gets home, it takes him a second to realise what Dean has done. Dean stands and grins sheepishly as Cas launches himself into a bony hug full of knocking elbows and laughter and ' _thanks, Dean!'s._  They have to wait til it gets dark out, counting down and filling the time with careless twelve-year old chatter until the watery grey light begins to fade.  

When it's dark enough, they lay top and tail on Cas's bed and stare up at the jagged points of fluorescent light. Personally, Dean's not sure what the big deal is about, but Cas seems enthralled and Dean's not gonna ruin his fun.  'Hey look,' Cas says, lifting an arm to draw shapes in the air, 'there's Perseus- if you shift that one left a bit, and that there could be Orion's belt if you moved that middle one up a little-' Dean rolls his eyes. 'I stuck them on at random, dork, there ain't any constellations up there like in the real sky.' He feels Cas shrug before saying; 'Well you must be a natural then, because they look perfect.' Dean finds himself grinning. 'Whatever you say, spaceman.' he says, and they fall back into silence for a few comfortable minutes.    
'Hey Cas,'  says Dean after a while,  'When I can drive, and dad lets me use the Impala, we'll go somewhere you can see the sky properly, and you can tell me about all those constellations for real, yeah?' Dean's not sure why he says it, its not like he cares either way about stupid constellations, but Cas's voice is filled with such warmth when he replies that that's a good enough reason alone. 'Thanks, Dean.’

* * *

 Dean is 18 years old and standing around the corner from his best friends house, leaning against the door of his Impala. When Castiel rounds the corner, Dean grins devilishly, pushes back off of the car, and opens the passenger door. ‘Your carriage awaits, Sir.’ he says mockingly and Cas rolls his eyes before climbing into the car. ‘Do I get to find out where we’re going yet?’ he asks as Dean falls easily into the seat next to him. ‘Course not, where’s the fun in that?’ Dean says, flashing him another sideways grin. ‘You’ll like it though, I swear.’    
’It’s not another comic convention is it? You know I hate those-’ Dean waves away his protest and says, ‘Look, if I say you’re gonna like it, you’re gonna like it. Alright?’  
'Fine.’ says Cas turning to look out the window, and Dean can tell he’s hiding a smile.

They pull up a few hours later in an empty field and climb out of the car. Standing in the mud surrounded by damp chilly air, Dean suddenly feels kind of embarrassed for making out this was a big deal.  ’I'm- uh, I'm a little late, but I owed you a date.’ He waves vaguely towards the night sky. ‘Stargazing. Tah-Dah.’  Castiel looks confused for a moment, then his jaw drops. ‘From when we were  _twelve_? You actually remembered? Wow, Dean, you barely remember to wake up in the morning, how did you remember this?’ Dean smiles, and shrugs, regaining some confidence at Cas’s obvious enthusiasm. ‘Guess I’m not just a pretty face after all. There’s a meteor shower tonight, too, and I did some research and apparently this is the best place to see-’ he breaks off at the look of happiness and slight disbelief on Castiel’s face, and then finishes in a softer voice, ‘C’mon, let’s sit.’

They climb onto the hood of the Impala and settle back, close enough for their arms to brush together. Dean opens his hand and feels Cas’s fingers thread easily through his own. Dean knows that this isn’t how normal best friends act, but he tries not to inspect it too closely, for fear or breaking whatever it is they have. He isn’t stupid- he knows the implications, and maybe on the odd occasion he’s been filled with a dizzy, light-headed feeling that makes him want to lean across and find out how Cas’s chapped lips feel on his own, but mostly he keeps those kind of thoughts pushed deep down somewhere so that they can't come spilling out and ruin everything. 

Dean turns his eyes to the sky, and even he has to admit the view is breathtaking; velvety black bespeckled with countless, gently twinkling points of light. ‘It should be starting soon.’ He says, and right on time there’s a flash of light across the sky. Cas’s lips part slightly in surprise, and then he laughs gently. Dean squeezes his hand slightly and says, ‘So why don’t you tell me about those stars, then?’ And Cas does. Just like he did 6 years ago, he lifts his free hand up to paint the images in the sky, and he names each star and constellation in turn, before launching into an explanation about white dwarves and red giants and the thermonuclear fusion of hydrogen, whatever that means- Dean loses track after a few minutes. The soft rumble of Cas’s voice and the occasional warmth of breath on his cheek when Cas turns to look at him, combined with the general contentment that comes with lying on the hood of your car with your best friend watching the stars, eventually lulls him into a dozing half sleep.

After a while, the sudden absence of Cas's voice wakes Dean, who opens his eyes to see Cas watching his face carefully, and not even attempting to pretend otherwise. Cas’s face is barely inches away from Dean's and the awe in his eyes is enough to make Dean feel giddy. ‘Hey,’ he says weakly, ‘Don’t you have some stars to be looking at?’  
‘I don’t know Dean.’ replies Cas softly, and he brushes a finger across the freckles on the bridge of Dean’s nose and up his left cheek. ‘There are plenty of them to look at right here.’ Dean plans to make a snarky comment about how corny that sounds, but it seems to get lost in translation and instead he’s leaning across and kissing Cas as gently as he can, or maybe Cas kisses him; its hard to tell, but it doesn’t matter. What matters is that Castiel’s mouth is sweet and slightly surprised against his own, and that it feels like everywhere Cas’s fingertips trace across his skin they leave a trail of miniature supernovas. When they finally break apart, neither of them make any effort to untangle their limbs. Cas lets his head drop into the crook of Deans neck, and for a while they just lay entangled together listening to the sounds of each other breathing. 'Hey, Dean?' whispers Cas, 'Thank you.' Dean smiles slightly, absent-mindedly tracing patterns onto the back of Cas's hand.   
'What for?'  
'For the stars.'


End file.
